They say "For International Orders Please Contact Us for Shipping Rates". So I did, and even thought it only costs $3.50 for shipping in the US, the guy told me "The cost of shipping is 24.50, for a total of 69.50 US" to Canada, for a book that weighs 4 lbs.! McFarland charges $15 for the first book; BearManor Media 7 bucks and (this just in) Northwestern University Press charges $9.50 + $1.75 tax, for a book (Four of the Three Musketeers ) that weighs about 3 lbs. The guy told me: "That is actual shipping cost to Canada, we make no money on the shipping." Hey. I'm willing to pay for a reasonable shipping charge, but this doesn't seem to be that. Am I missing something here?

Probably an innocent mistake. It depends if they are shipping it inside a box or a large envelope. If they ship as a flat (as opposed to a packet), utilizing a large padded envelope the price for first class international is considerably less. I sometimes have to do this when sending 45 RPM records internationally, so I imagine this would work for a book. Some online retailers know this but many do not. Go to USPS.com and search for the following from their impossibly complex shipping manual:

241.23 Physical Standards — Large Envelopes (Flats)

241.231 Weight Limit

The weight limit for a First-Class Mail International large envelope (flat) is 4 pounds.241.232 Dimensions and Characteristics

Large envelopes (flats) must meet the following dimensions and characteristics:More than 11-1/2 inches long or 6-1/8 inches high or 1/4-inch thick.Not more than 15 inches long or 12 inches high or 3/4-inch thick.Flexible (see 241.236).Rectangular.Uniformly thick as stated in 241.235.Note: The length of a large envelope (flat) is the longest dimension. The height is the dimension perpendicular to the length. A First-Class Mail International large envelope (flat) that does not meet the standards in 241.23 is not eligible for the large envelope (flat) size price and is charged the applicable First-Class Package International Service (small packet) price.241.233 Color

Light-colored envelopes that do not interfere with the reading of the address and postmark must be used. Brilliant colored envelopes are not authorized.241.234 Quality

Flats must be constructed to be strong enough to withstand normal handling. Highly glazed paper or paper with a design that affects readability or processing is not acceptable.241.235 Uniform Thickness

Large envelopes (flats) must be uniformly thick so that any bumps, protrusions, or other irregularities do not cause more than a 1/4-inch variance in thickness. When determining variance in thickness, exclude the outside edges of a mailpiece (1 inch from each edge) when the contents do not extend into those edges. Also, exclude the selvage of any polywrap covering from this determination. Mailers must secure nonpaper contents to prevent shifting of more than 2 inches within the mailpiece if shifting would cause the piece to be nonuniform in thickness or would result in the contents bursting out of the mailpiece.241.236 Minimum Flexibility

Large envelopes (flats) must be flexible. Boxes with or without hinges, gaps, or breaks that allow the piece to bend are not considered large envelopes (flats). Tight envelopes or wrappers that are filled with one or more boxes are not considered large envelopes (flats). Customers have the option to perform the tests described below and illustrated in Exhibit 241.236a–Exhibit 241.236c on their own mailpieces. When a Postal Service employee observes a customer demonstrating that a flat-size piece is flexible according to these standards, the employee does not need to perform the test. Test flats as follows:All large envelopes (flats) (see Exhibit 241.236a):Place the piece with the length parallel to the edge of a flat surface and extend the piece halfway off the surface.Press down on the piece at a point 1 inch from the outer edge, in the center of the piece’s length, exerting steady pressure.The piece is not flexible if it cannot bend at least 1 inch vertically without being damaged.The piece is flexible if it can bend at least 1 inch vertically without being damaged and does not contain a rigid insert. No further testing is necessary.

Thanks MoldyFigRecords for your response. Both BearManor Media & McFarland sent me their books in over sized boxes. (And McFarland still has to send me two more books later.) McFarland's 9 book box was 10.06 lbs while BearManor Media sent me two boxes with 2 books in them each. One box was 6 lbs (and much bigger than it needed to be) and the other was 4 lbs. I'd consider getting THE HARRY LANGDON SCRAPBOOK on Amazon.com (now that I finally started using a prepaid credit card) but it's $5 more (and I don't know what the shipping costs would be yet). Amazon.ca doesn't even have it, yet. Maybe if I wait long enough, the price might go down when they find themselves with a bunch of copies lying around that they can't sell fast enough.

Update: The price it seems for shipping to Canada on Amazon.com is $12.50 USD. For a total of $62.50 USD. Still better than the $69.50 I got from Walker & Anthony Publications.

Am I the only one from Canada on NitrateVille who wants to buy this book?

Lonesome Luke wrote:Thanks MoldyFigRecords for your response. Both BearManor Media & McFarland sent me their books in over sized boxes. (And McFarland still has to send me two more books later.) McFarland's 9 book box was 10.06 lbs while BearManor Media sent me two boxes with 2 books in them each. One box was 6 lbs (and much bigger than it needed to be) and the other was 4 lbs. I'd consider getting THE HARRY LANGDON SCRAPBOOK on Amazon.com (now that I finally started using a prepaid credit card) but it's $5 more (and I don't know what the shipping costs would be yet). Amazon.ca doesn't even have it, yet. Maybe if I wait long enough, the price might go down when they find themselves with a bunch of copies lying around that they can't sell fast enough.

Update: The price it seems for shipping to Canada on Amazon.com is $12.50 USD. For a total of $62.50 USD. Still better than the $69.50 I got from Walker & Anthony Publications.

Am I the only one from Canada on NitrateVille who wants to buy this book?

I guess you don't remember where you bought your book, or what it cost you, do you?

Well, Amazon.com is useless. When I try to buy the book it says: "Sorry, this item can't be shipped to your selected address." Plus, I've learned that ordering from them is expensive when you buy something from the states. They tack on an "Import Fees Deposit", along with the shipping & handling. So, for instance if I were to buy The Mishaps of Musty Suffer DVD at $19.95, it would come out to $31.00 in USD, for a grand total of about $40.73 in Canadian dollars!

I tried to buy the book at Seattle Book Company to see if it would be cheaper. But right off the bat, it was $50, $5 more than Walker & Anthony Publications, but the shipping is $19.95 compared to $24.50. So, I'm back to square one, with Walker & Anthony Publications being less expensive, but with a higher shipping cost. I sent the Seattle Book Company an e-mail telling them that their book is only $45 somewhere else (they have a "Redeem a Gift Certificate or Coupon" button) but I haven't gotten a response yet, only a bunch of "Complete your purchase at Seattle Book Company..." e-mails instead.

Lonesome Luke wrote:So, for instance if I were to buy The Mishaps of Musty Suffer DVD at $19.95, it would come out to $31.00 in USD, for a grand total of about $40.73 in Canadian dollars!

I believe Ben Model described the frustrations of trying to sell through Amazon.ca elsewhere on Nitrateville, when I bemoaned this very fact. Lucky for me, I was able to buy directly from the man himself at Cinefest in Syracuse, but that doesn't help your case any.

I guess you don't remember where you bought your book, or what it cost you, do you?

I bought it direct from the publishers, Brian Edmonds and (forget the other guy's name). Same way I just bought their Chase scrapbook. And yes, that's the only way to get it shipped to Canada, and they ain't cheap. I'll see if I can find the price details tomorrow.

s.w.a.c. wrote:I believe Ben Model described the frustrations of trying to sell through Amazon.ca elsewhere on Nitrateville, when I bemoaned this very fact. Lucky for me, I was able to buy directly from the man himself at Cinefest in Syracuse, but that doesn't help your case any.

I remember reading about how expensive it was to buy stuff from the states here. It's even cheaper to buy stuff in Europe or China sometimes.

Jim Roots wrote:I bought it direct from the publishers, Brian Edmonds and (forget the other guy's name).

The publishers are Walker & Anthony Publications. Are you sure it wasn't Brian Anthony?

The Seattle Book Company told me that they can't lower the price because "The publisher sells it directly for $45. The $50 price tag on our site is the cover price and the price determined by them for us to sell it at. I’m afraid I have to go with their price, but here is the link to where you can buy it from them directly: http://www.walkeranthonybooks.com/Langd ... 0Page.html Which brings me right back to where I came from.

Walker & Anthony Publications has nothing to do with assigning this USPS rate. It is what it is. I know this because I researched the information online at USPS.com to verify the shipping cost.

Having looked at shipping charges from Canada to the US on books, films and such on eBay, I can assure you that the reciprocal Canada Post shipping charges can be far more outrageous than what the USPS charges.

Walker & Anthony Publications has nothing to do with assigning this USPS rate. It is what it is. I know this because I researched the information online at USPS.com to verify the shipping cost.

Having looked at shipping charges from Canada to the US on books, films and such on eBay, I can assure you that the reciprocal Canada Post shipping charges can be far more outrageous than what the USPS charges.

If that's the United States Postal Service's fixed price, how do you explain the Seattle Book Company shipping price of $19.95 for the same book? (Not to mention every other place charging way less? Just sayin'.)

Jim Roots wrote: And hey! don't forget the exchange rate!

I didn't. It comes out to about $85.

If you think that's bad, The Silent Films of Harry Langdon (1923-1928) [Hardback] from Rowman & Littlefield is even more expensive. It's $69 US, plus $6 shipping & handling. (I guess they must be losing money on the shipping & handling.) That comes out to a little over a $100 Canadian. SAD.

Walker & Anthony Publications has nothing to do with assigning this USPS rate. It is what it is. I know this because I researched the information online at USPS.com to verify the shipping cost.

Having looked at shipping charges from Canada to the US on books, films and such on eBay, I can assure you that the reciprocal Canada Post shipping charges can be far more outrageous than what the USPS charges.

If that's the United States Postal Service's fixed price, how do you explain the Seattle Book Company shipping price of $19.95 for the same book? (Not to mention every other place charging way less? Just sayin'.)

Jim Roots wrote: And hey! don't forget the exchange rate!

I didn't. It comes out to about $85.

If you think that's bad, The Silent Films of Harry Langdon (1923-1928) [Hardback] from Rowman & Littlefield is even more expensive. It's $69 US, plus $6 shipping & handling. (I guess they must be losing money on the shipping & handling.) That comes out to a little over a $100 Canadian. SAD.

Dude, do a search on my postings here and you'll find that out of 2,100 posts, approximately 2,000 are complaints about how much Canadians have to pay for books and DVDs. The other 100 are complaints about studio archives not captioning their classic talkies. (Does that sound about right, fans?)

Walker & Anthony Publications has nothing to do with assigning this USPS rate. It is what it is. I know this because I researched the information online at USPS.com to verify the shipping cost.

Having looked at shipping charges from Canada to the US on books, films and such on eBay, I can assure you that the reciprocal Canada Post shipping charges can be far more outrageous than what the USPS charges.

If that's the United States Postal Service's fixed price, how do you explain the Seattle Book Company shipping price of $19.95 for the same book? (Not to mention every other place charging way less? Just sayin'.)

Luke, I have no idea how the Seattle Book Company operates. Volume discount? But you cannot fault a Mom-&-Pop publisher from charging the actual shipping cost that they have to pay to send a book to whatever destination.

Ed Watz wrote:Luke, I have no idea how the Seattle Book Company operates. Volume discount? But you cannot fault a Mom-&-Pop publisher from charging the actual shipping cost that they have to pay to send a book to whatever destination.

One thing I can't fault them on, is their price (of $45) for a big hardcover book. It's one of the lowest.

Jim Roots wrote:Dude, do a search on my postings here and you'll find that out of 2,100 posts, approximately 2,000 are complaints about how much Canadians have to pay for books and DVDs. The other 100 are complaints about studio archives not captioning their classic talkies. (Does that sound about right, fans?)

Now it's MY turn to complain. (I wasn't buying stuff online before, so it wasn't effecting me. Now it is.) One question about your complaints: Did you ever complain about the Global Shipping Program? It's good for the guy shipping stuff, but just ends up costing the consumer more. (Maybe the Seattle Book Company is using this, which would account for the higher shipping costs.) I had to pay this once on eBay, so far, but they still had the best price for what I wanted.

Anyway, I complained, they lowered their price, now I'm happy. Case closed.

Ed Watz wrote:Luke, I have no idea how the Seattle Book Company operates. Volume discount? But you cannot fault a Mom-&-Pop publisher from charging the actual shipping cost that they have to pay to send a book to whatever destination.

One thing I can't fault them on, is their price (of $45) for a big hardcover book. It's one of the lowest.

Jim Roots wrote:Dude, do a search on my postings here and you'll find that out of 2,100 posts, approximately 2,000 are complaints about how much Canadians have to pay for books and DVDs. The other 100 are complaints about studio archives not captioning their classic talkies. (Does that sound about right, fans?)

Now it's MY turn to complain. (I wasn't buying stuff online before, so it wasn't effecting me. Now it is.) One question about your complaints: Did you ever complain about the Global Shipping Program? It's good for the guy shipping stuff, but just ends up costing the consumer more. (Maybe the Seattle Book Company is using this, which would account for the higher shipping costs.) I had to pay this once on eBay, so far, but they still had the best price for what I wanted.

Anyway, I complained, they lowered their price, now I'm happy. Case closed.

When I was young I always wondered if "Harry Langdon" the photographer who shot the glamourous covers of many albums by Donna Summer, Crystal Gayle, and Dottie West as well as being credited with scores of glamour shots of various Hollywood stars in the early 80's, Farrah Fawcett, Joan Collins, etc. (he was kind of the Hurrell of the Reagan era) was any relation to the Harry Langdon - I don't think I found out until the internet era. Here's a good interview with Langdon Jr I just recently happened upon http://smashinginterviews.com/interview ... onic-faces" although it's a couple of years old.